Employer of Record in Italy

Yes. EOR is a recognized and legal employment structure under Italian law. No special license is required to operate as an EOR provider in Italy — the responsibility sits on doing the work correctly, not on holding a credential.

CCNL stands for Contratti Collettivi Nazionali di Lavoro — industry collective labor agreements. Italy doesn't have a single national minimum wage. Instead, each industry has negotiated agreements that set minimum salaries, job classifications, benefits, and leave entitlements. Your employee's role needs to be classified under the correct CCNL, or your contract gets rejected and visa applications stall. We map your role to the right CCNL from day one.

Global templates were written for countries with simpler wage rules. They don't account for CCNL-specific minimums, don't budget correctly for TFR (severance accrual) or INPS contributions, and often miss Italian-specific termination procedures. The contract either gets rejected by Italian authorities or the payroll costs surprise you.

For EU/EEA nationals with standard documents: typically 1–2 weeks. Non-EU hires needing a visa take longer — it depends on their nationality and the visa category. Italy has specific visa application windows that open at set times each year, so timing matters. We'll give you a realistic timeline upfront based on your situation.

Italy's visa system works on an application schedule — windows open at specific times (usually January–February each year), you submit the application in that window, and the quota fills up first-come, first-served. We handle the paperwork and timing so your application gets in when the window is open. If we miss a window, you wait for the next one — which is why preparation and timing matter.

TFR (Trattamento di Fine Rapporto) is severance that Italian law requires employers to accrue throughout employment — roughly 7.4% of salary per year. It's paid to the employee at the end of employment, either as a final settlement or rolled into a pension fund. You don't pay it all upfront; we accrue it monthly as part of your total employment costs. When the employee leaves, the TFR is calculated and paid according to Italian law.

Italian law requires employers to pay INPS contributions (social security, roughly 30% employer cost), TFR accrual (roughly 7.4%), extra salary months (13th and 14th month bonuses mandated by CCNL), plus the base salary itself. These aren't optional — they're required by law and the industry CCNL. So the total cost to employ someone in Italy is genuinely higher than in countries without these requirements.

Iberia Workforce is part of Connect Group. We operate in Italy from Milan with our own legal and payroll team — no local partner intermediary. We're based here, we handle your contracts and visa applications directly, and we carry the legal responsibility for compliance. Employment services are delivered by lawyers and payroll specialists who work in Italian employment law every day and understand CCNL mapping, TFR accounting, and INPS compliance.

If they're in Italy more than 183 days per year, they become a tax resident and Italian law applies to the full employment. If they're working outside Italy, the employment law of that country applies instead. And if it's a non-EU hire, their visa category might also restrict where they can work. Tell us the setup — home country, where they'll actually work, visa status if applicable — and we'll confirm what applies before you hire.

Italian law doesn't allow at-will termination. Dismissal requires either documented misconduct or proof of economic necessity (like restructuring). We manage the process to make sure termination is handled correctly, documented properly, final severance and TFR are calculated correctly, and doesn't expose you to legal disputes afterward.